Marriage and Childbearing

In 2004, there were 44,178 births to unmarried women in North Carolina, accounting for 36.9 percent of all births in the state.

North Carolina ranked 18th among the 50 states in the highest percentage of births to unmarried women.

In 2004, there were 18,670 births to unmarried African American women in North Carolina, 15,464 births to unmarried white women, and 8,671 births to unmarried Hispanic women.

Marriage and Divorce

In 2005, North Carolina had a divorce rate of 4.1 divorces per 1,000 people. North Carolina’s divorce rate ranked 20th highest among the 44 states that report divorce statistics.

The percentage of adults who were divorced was 18.7 percent among African Americans, 13.3 percent among whites, and 7.9 among Hispanics.

Marriage and Low-Income Children

In 2006, North Carolina had 940,338 children living in families with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Over two-fifths of these children (41.8 percent) were living with married parents.

The state’s largest group of low-income children lived with married parents in urban areas. In 2006, there were 237,927 children in this group.

In 2006, 41 percent of low-income children in North Carolina were white, 35 percent were African American, and 17 percent were Hispanic.

TABLE NC-1.

NORTH CAROLINA

NONMARITAL BIRTHS,

BY MOTHER’S AGE, RACE/ETHNICITY, EDUCATION LEVEL, AND COUNTY

North Carolina

South Atlantic Regiona

United States

Population Group

Number of Births to Unmarried Women

Number of Births to All Women

Percent of Births to Unmarried Women

Percent of Births to Unmarried Women

Percent of Births to Unmarried Women

Mother’s Age

Less than 18

4,254

4,712

90.3

90.8

90.6

18 to 29

33,458

73,561

45.5

48.2

45.3

Over 30

6,466

41,574

15.6

16.7

16.0

Mother’s Race/Ethnicityb, c

White

15,464

70,256

22.0

24.8

24.5

African American

18,670

27,430

68.1

66.4

69.3

Hispanic

8,671

17,295

50.1

45.1

46.4

Other

1,332

4,771

27.9

14.5

21.7

Mother’s Educationb

Less than high school

18,032

27,378

65.9

66.4

60.9

High school graduate

23,755

60,485

39.3

41.3

39.8

College graduate

2,145

31,377

6.8

7.3

7.0

Geographic Area

Mecklenburg County

4,535

12,962

35.0

---

---

Wake County

3,081

11,751

26.2

---

---

All other counties

36,562

95,134

38.4

---

---

Total

44,178

119,847

36.9

38.1

35.8

Source: National Center for Health Statistics. See Technical Appendix for details.

a Includes Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.

bNumber of births in groups may not sum to state total (bottom row) due to missing demographic information.

cSee Technical Appendix for definition of racial/ethnic groups.

TABLE NC-2.

NORTH CAROLINA

DIVORCE RATES,

BY GENDER, RACE/ETHNICITY, EDUCATION LEVEL, AND GEOGRAPHIC AREA

Overall Rates, 2005

Measure

North Carolina

South Atlantic Regiona

United Statesb

Number of divorces granted

35,684

189,151

846,166

Number of divorces granted per 1,000 peoplec

4.1

4.1

3.6

State ranking (highest to lowest)b

20

Source: National Center for Health Statistics. See Technical Appendix for details.

a Includes Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.

b Excludes six states where data are not available. See Technical Appendix for list.

c This statistic should not be interpreted as the number of marriages that end in divorce. See p. 7 for details.

Percentage of Ever-Married Adults Who Are Divorced, 2006

North Carolina

South Atlantic Regiond

United States

Population Group

Number of
Divorced People

Percent of
Group

Percent of
Group

Percent of
Group

Gender

Men

293,910

12.9

14.0

13.7

Women

391,157

14.6

16.3

16.0

Race/Ethnicitye

White

498,335

13.3

14.8

15.0

African American

148,410

18.7

19.7

21.1

Hispanic

18,830

7.9

13.2

12.2

Other

19,492

11.1

10.8

10.4

Education Level

Less than high school

111,279

13.4

14.2

13.4

High school graduate

436,899

15.2

16.8

16.8

College graduate

136,889

11.1

12.4

11.9

Geographic Areae

Rural

248,109

13.9

14.6

14.5

Urban

436,958

13.8

15.4

15.1

Total

685,067

13.8

15.2

15.0

Source: American Community Survey (ACS), 2006. See Technical Appendix for details.

Notes: Sample limited to ever-married individuals ages 15 and older. Those who have remarried after a divorce are not counted as divorced in these percentages. See Technical Appendix for details.

d Includes Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.

e See Technical Appendix for definition of racial/ethnic groups and geographic areas.

TABLE NC-3.

NORTH CAROLINA

DISTRIBUTION OF LOW-INCOME CHILDREN,

BY FAMILY TYPE AND GEOGRAPHIC AREA

North Carolina

South Atlantic Regiona

United States

Geographic
Areab

Family
Type

Number of
Children

Percent of
Children

Percent of
Children

Percent of
Children

All Areas

Married Parents

393,440

41.8

40.7

45.4

Cohabiting Parents

82,425

8.8

8.9

9.1

Single Parent

Never married

161,902

17.2

17.6

14.9

Formerly married

181,816

19.3

18.5

18.0

Neither Parent

48,637

5.2

5.2

4.3

Unknownc

72,118

7.7

9.0

8.3

Total

940,338

100.0

100.0

100.0

Rural

Married Parents

155,513

43.2

41.7

48.0

Cohabiting Parents

32,774

9.1

8.7

9.6

Single Parent

Never married

45,914

12.8

14.3

10.3

Formerly married

76,821

21.4

19.8

19.0

Neither Parent

19,374

5.4

6.2

5.2

Unknownc

29,347

8.2

9.3

7.9

Total

359,743

100.0

100.0

100.0

Urban

Married Parents

237,927

41.0

40.4

44.8

Cohabiting Parents

49,651

8.6

9.0

9.0

Single Parent

Never married

115,988

20.0

18.6

15.9

Formerly married

104,995

18.1

18.2

17.7

Neither Parent

29,263

5.0

4.9

4.1

Unknownc

42,771

7.4

8.9

8.3

Total

580,595

100.0

100.0

100.0

Source: American Community Survey (ACS), 2006. See Technical Appendix for details.

Note: Low-income children are defined as those living in families with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty line.

a Includes Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.

b See Technical Appendix for definition of geographic areas.

c Children in complex family types that cannot be distinguished using ACS data. See Technical Appendix for details.

TABLE NC-4.

NORTH CAROLINA

DISTRIBUTION OF LOW-INCOME CHILDREN,

BY FAMILY TYPE AND RACIAL/ETHNIC BACKGROUND

North Carolina

South Atlantic Regiona

United
States

Racial/Ethnic Groupb

Family Type

Number of
Children

Percent of
Children

Percent of
Children

Percent of
Children

White

Married Parents

210,113

54.0

51.8

52.3

Cohabiting Parents

33,916

8.7

9.9

9.9

Single Parent

Never married

15,164

3.9

5.3

6.5

Formerly married

90,443

23.2

20.9

21.0

Neither Parent

14,523

3.7

4.5

4.0

Unknownc

25,206

6.5

7.6

6.2

Total

389,365

100.0

100.0

100.0

African
American

Married Parents

60,845

18.5

20.8

20.0

Cohabiting Parents

19,528

5.9

6.8

6.3

Single Parent

Never married

120,053

36.5

35.0

37.3

Formerly married

66,677

20.3

19.0

18.6

Neither Parent

25,097

7.6

7.0

6.9

Unknownc

36,800

11.2

11.6

10.9

Total

329,000

100.0

100.0

100.0

Hispanic

Married Parents

93,128

59.0

56.5

53.8

Cohabiting Parents

23,176

14.7

11.4

9.9

Single Parent

Never married

15,640

9.9

8.2

10.3

Formerly married

13,245

8.4

13.8

14.1

Neither Parent

4,734

3.0

3.1

3.0

Unknownc

8,023

5.1

7.1

8.9

Total

157,946

100.0

100.0

100.0

Other

Married Parents

29,354

45.8

49.7

50.0

Cohabiting Parents

5,805

9.1

9.0

9.5

Single Parent

Never married

11,045

17.3

14.5

12.0

Formerly married

11,451

17.9

14.7

15.8

Neither Parent

4,283

6.7

4.6

4.0

Unknownc

2,089

3.3

7.5

8.7

Total

64,027

100.0

100.0

100.0

Source: American Community Survey (ACS), 2006. See Technical Appendix for details.

Note: Low-income children are defined as those living in families with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty line.

a Includes Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.

b See Technical Appendix for definition of racial/ethnic groups.

c Children in complex family types that cannot be distinguished using ACS data. See Technical Appendix for details.

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